Jessica's Chest Piece and a Tale of Two Tigers

There may be eight million people in New York, but it's still, at times, a small world town.<br /><br />Last month in the Amtrak section of Penn Station, I spotted Jessica, a young woman with a beautiful tattoo across her chest:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-knD22dPlSy9dNDWD10PhUfKjRF4bBs_zT3IIaOGBdbD7A-wv4ERe7Fbvb9kdnz5OVQAGq-ahIPNCZQRAocpU_oQK1lxb8K5Jbw3RgPo_7TlT3mFK6XC9VEogPAvsPJqp97E416oc/s1600/never+love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-knD22dPlSy9dNDWD10PhUfKjRF4bBs_zT3IIaOGBdbD7A-wv4ERe7Fbvb9kdnz5OVQAGq-ahIPNCZQRAocpU_oQK1lxb8K5Jbw3RgPo_7TlT3mFK6XC9VEogPAvsPJqp97E416oc/s400/never+love.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This piece even was our banner here for a few weeks, thanks to Jessica.<br /><br />The inscription reads "Never Love, Never Lose," which is certainly thought-provoking, a slight spin on the aphorism, "It is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all." It also recalls an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claddagh_ring">Irish claddagh ring</a>, with two hands holding a heart. Feathers on the ends of the hands were added to even out the design.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJ9kg7bM0rKcqqTMwcPqmp_qwOWFleJg4Xg_QobImclqMN23HZQSxEwmoxx9jC2fZtjY24ldeU3oFcIBMbhm349xaZp0KY0uxm3Sms4XCy0nig8PWMB8BW2KsoygbWwVOCOoDjHNe/s1600/feather+hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJ9kg7bM0rKcqqTMwcPqmp_qwOWFleJg4Xg_QobImclqMN23HZQSxEwmoxx9jC2fZtjY24ldeU3oFcIBMbhm349xaZp0KY0uxm3Sms4XCy0nig8PWMB8BW2KsoygbWwVOCOoDjHNe/s320/feather+hands.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />I particularly like the fact that Jessica is wearing a key around her neck and, in the photo, it is lying across the keyhole at the center of the heart.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgItuql7unoYCpEsfjL8uspDD2GD6RwyylLbc1s8rRApJ5kFBu5gySegMVouV2SXnrKcrA2phW3eMn89f-GrSQsn-OqyKE9A0c5poSAPNnwX8axnoLNAp0gqX69_T5mL4sOL3BCFF/s1600/never+love+key.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgItuql7unoYCpEsfjL8uspDD2GD6RwyylLbc1s8rRApJ5kFBu5gySegMVouV2SXnrKcrA2phW3eMn89f-GrSQsn-OqyKE9A0c5poSAPNnwX8axnoLNAp0gqX69_T5mL4sOL3BCFF/s400/never+love+key.jpg" width="297" /></a></div><br />Jessica collaborated with the artist known as <a href="http://www.goodoldfashionedtattoos.com/">Ollie XXX</a> in Montreal. If you look at his portfolio on <a href="http://www.goodoldfashionedtattoos.com/">his site</a>, slide 87 shows a brighter original version of the tattoo when it was first completed.<br /><br />When I asked her how many tattoos she had, she said, twenty-two, and showed me her most recent, a Peanuts tattoo. When I inquired where she got it, she said <a href="http://www.thickerthanwatertattoo.com/">Thicker Than Water</a> on the Lower East Side. "Oh," I commented, "you got one of the $50 specials?" I knew that the shop had done a $50 tattoo event the previous Saturday. Jessica confirmed that she had, in fact, attended with a friend.<br /><br /><br />I continued, "<a href="http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#%21/Djoner?ref=ts">Shon Lindauer</a> was the artist for <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/01/tyger-tyger-burning-bright.html">my tiger</a>,"and I rolled up my pant leg to reveal <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/01/tyger-tyger-burning-bright.html">the piece</a> Shon had inked at the beginning of the year when they were in "<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/01/year-o-tiger-has-begun.html">Year of the Tiger</a>" mode. Well, you could have knocked Jessica over with a feather and her aunt, who Jessica was seeing off at the station, was also surprised. Why?<br /><br />Jessica pulled down her right sleeve to reveal a familiar, but more feminine version of my tiger from my calf.<br /><br /><br />Shon had inked a variation on the tiger for her in February. Jessica's aunt insisted we pose with our tigers together.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcgVJQ4i6Nl9gd61N4f0PmU3eyihyJ_KjqfD670ZfK40lkRqRMwISQtpFYbh7QyZznZnx4AeCH-_OyML9DtLhYTI-r_XFH-i-FmSHaWJNAkqr63f0D7__fYauM28YHXe19hl9t8JG/s1600/106_0106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIcgVJQ4i6Nl9gd61N4f0PmU3eyihyJ_KjqfD670ZfK40lkRqRMwISQtpFYbh7QyZznZnx4AeCH-_OyML9DtLhYTI-r_XFH-i-FmSHaWJNAkqr63f0D7__fYauM28YHXe19hl9t8JG/s400/106_0106.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zyZzQbUDfe97710dHz-I7vDze4ojgxe3X_v6Vl7d0yS-SIQO0QsCBZCogKNZ7dRb5aYzUphTE5M9kf2hDglGScP4wQGNssLiw7s3dO5LJsqCOSHw-P-04cUzByLjcmcTOG_Oyl4p/s1600/two+tigers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zyZzQbUDfe97710dHz-I7vDze4ojgxe3X_v6Vl7d0yS-SIQO0QsCBZCogKNZ7dRb5aYzUphTE5M9kf2hDglGScP4wQGNssLiw7s3dO5LJsqCOSHw-P-04cUzByLjcmcTOG_Oyl4p/s400/two+tigers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I love how the designs are so similar, yet hers is much more feminine (or mine is much more masculine).<br /><br />Granted, inkspotting certainly reduces the odds, but nonetheless, our paths crossing still seemed incredibly amazing.<br /><br />Thanks to Jessica for sharing her work with us here on Tattoosday!

Jessica's Chest Piece and a Tale of Two Tigers

There may be eight million people in New York, but it's still, at times, a small world town. Last month in the Amtrak section of Penn St...

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